Ser professora negra em São Francisco de Itabapoana/ RJ : memórias, protagonismo docente e relações racias (1960-2022)

Abstract

The present work aims at building memories of the personal and professional trajectory of black teachers in the municipality of São Francisco de Itabapoana, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Faced with the erasure of black women in the history of the municipality, this study seeks to recognize the role of black teachers and their important contribution to local education. Discussions about the black movement and the blackening of feminism were used to reflect on the construction and writing of the history of subaltern subjects in historiography, with a focus on Regional History. The performance and trajectories of black female teachers form a field of study that has grown in Brazil and gained space in historiography and studies in education. Thinking about black women and teachers, in this race and class perspective, allows us to understand the meanings that these subjects build in relation to racism and ethnic-racial education throughout their personal history. The research analysis subjects were ten teachers who work in basic education and who self-identify as black, aged between 21 and 61 years. As a theoretical reference, authors such as Sueli Carneiro, bell hooks, Nilma Lino Gomes, and Lélia Gonzalez were the basis for the proposed reflections. The methodology used was conducting interviews in a semi-structured format, in order to understand how the life stories of the teachers relate (and relate to each other) with their pedagogical practices. Among the results of the analysis, it is highlighted that there are several factors that constitute the scenario of performance and formation of the identity of black teachers and their teaching practice. It is concluded that the teachers have different conceptions of racial relations and their ways of describing or reacting to racial discrimination, sometimes through the denial of racism or conformism, contribute to thinking that the way they understand racism is related to the processes they went through as black women. The ways of experiencing and building the identity of a black woman are not unilateral or universal. Their experiences and testimonies helped to highlight silenced and marginalized narratives and educational processes, pointing out ways for a more humane and anti-racist education.